Am I allowed to do this?

[+Coldgears]

I'm short on money and have plenty of plastic lunch bags (for sandwhiches). These are technically containers so can I put these in trees and bushes and make a multi out of these? I'm going to glue these to things so they won't fly away. I'll replace when neccessary too. But will the reviewer okay this?

[+radak9]

I'm going to answer this as if this is a serious inquiry:

 

I'll replace when neccessary too.

Which will be once a week for every cache you place. Please do not use sandwich bags for caches, they WILL leak through with the first rain. Heck even plastic sandwich bags INSIDE "Tupperware" containers don't always keep logs dry.

[+ras_oscar]

Ive only seen plastic bags as supplementary protection inside a secure container. I'd wait and save your pesos to get a reliable container. Target has lock n locks in the plastic storage section for a few bucks. Most cachers will appreciate the effort. IMHO

[+Coldgears]

I guess I'm really stupid! It's just that everytime I find a cache like a magnectic key holder with a plastic bag inside it's usually dry. I guess it's the double protection of both that keeps them dry. Now I feel stupid. I just really want to hide another multi, last time I used a playdough container and old pill bottle. I can afford an ammo box, a bison tube, and a stainless steel container, but I just can't afford multipule ones of them. My pill bottle is holding up fine with the plastic bag. I guess I'll just keep hiding single quality caches for now on!

[+Coldgears]

Which will be once a week for every cache you place.

I was only planning on hiding 1 multi with like 5 stages. I want a long multi but don't have money for a long multi with great containers. I'll just stick with traditionals.

Edited August 22, 2010 by Coldgears

[+Mosaic55]

Do you know anyone who's diabetic? Ask them for their empty glucose test strip containers. About the size of a film can and waterproof.

 

Or make some bottle cap micros http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=248516&hl=

[Keystone]

Find four interesting places. Most interesting places have a sign - whether it's for a historic marker, a monument dedication, the gravestone of a famous person, or a park entrance. Use numbers or letters from the sign to plug into a formula that takes the finder to the next stage.

 

Cost to hider: one container at the very end.

Wow factor: you took me to four cool spots.

Bonus: virtual clue stages aren't subject to the Cache Saturation guideline.

[+buttaskotch]

I have found many camo'd zip locks in PA. Gotta say not fond of them as they aren't the most water resistant. Don't feel silly, just chalk it up to more learning!!!

[+Coldgears]

I have found many camo'd zip locks in PA. Gotta say not fond of them as they aren't the most water resistant. Don't feel silly, just chalk it up to more learning!!!

So people do actually do this huh? I still would rather use a good container even if it is a normal practice to use zip locks. I like keystones idea best. The real issue is finding a park that has the interesting markers within a certain distance from my house...

[+Ike 13]

Ziplocks are not designed to be opened and closed numerous times. They will eventually rip and tear. With no container around the bag it will also develop holes. Keystone has great advice. I have on just like he describes. http://coord.info/GC2CG1E

 

If you have $5 you can easily go to WalMart and buy 5 orange matchstick containers (they now come with matches). They are waterproof, easy to camo, and easy to hide.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I'm short on money and have plenty of plastic lunch bags (for sandwhiches). These are technically containers so can I put these in trees and bushes and make a multi out of these? I'm going to glue these to things so they won't fly away. I'll replace when neccessary too. But will the reviewer okay this?

There are plenty of containers you can get for free that will be better, like film cans, and tennis ball cans, just visit your local park with tennis courts and you'll find some laying around.

[imwithstupider]

I can think of all kinds of things that would make better caches around the house. Peanut butter jars have screw on lids. I'm pretty sure they would work for free and not tear. I've found several torn baggies in the handful of caches I've found and they were inside containers. I just don't see how that's gonna work bro.

[+radak9]

I can think of all kinds of things that would make better caches around the house. Peanut butter jars have screw on lids. I'm pretty sure they would work for free and not tear. I've found several torn baggies in the handful of caches I've found and they were inside containers. I just don't see how that's gonna work bro.

The main problem with using food containers like the PB Jar is that critters will home in on the cache as you can never get the food smell out of them.

 

But yes, there are many containers (while not that great in their own right) that are better than a baggie.

[+Printess Caroline]

One of the things I enjoy most about hiding multis is that the parts leading to the final do not have to be a container. You could put something together in the way Keystone suggested and you could also make stages that would be waterproof tags or objects that have coordinates / clues written on them. For instance, one of my beaver themed caches had a stage on which I burned the clue on a beaver chew and polyurethaned that part of the chew to preserve it. I found the chew; I owned the wood burner; and the polyurethane was left over from another project. Therefore, the cost to me was close to nothing. I've also seen metal tags stamped with coordinates / clues. I think that multis that have parts that aren't all in containers are more interesting, creative and fun. Personally, I wish there were more of them for me to find.

[knowschad]

I can think of all kinds of things that would make better caches around the house. Peanut butter jars have screw on lids. I'm pretty sure they would work for free and not tear. I've found several torn baggies in the handful of caches I've found and they were inside containers. I just don't see how that's gonna work bro.

The main problem with using food containers like the PB Jar is that critters will home in on the cache as you can never get the food smell out of them.

 

But yes, there are many containers (while not that great in their own right) that are better than a baggie.

My 6 years of experience has found quite the opposite, as far as peanut butter and mayo jars. They do need to be properly cleaned (dishwasher & bleach rinse) but they generally hold up quite admirably.

[knowschad]

I'm short on money and have plenty of plastic lunch bags (for sandwhiches). These are technically containers so can I put these in trees and bushes and make a multi out of these? I'm going to glue these to things so they won't fly away. I'll replace when neccessary too. But will the reviewer okay this?

You know that phrase, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime"?

 

Seriously, please no. I'm sure that you could find a way to buy a few $1 plastic match containers from Wally World if for some reason you don't want to use Keystone's excellent suggestion.

[+Coldgears]

I can think of all kinds of things that would make better caches around the house. Peanut butter jars have screw on lids. I'm pretty sure they would work for free and not tear. I've found several torn baggies in the handful of caches I've found and they were inside containers. I just don't see how that's gonna work bro.

The main problem with using food containers like the PB Jar is that critters will home in on the cache as you can never get the food smell out of them.

 

But yes, there are many containers (while not that great in their own right) that are better than a baggie.

My 6 years of experience has found quite the opposite, as far as peanut butter and mayo jars. They do need to be properly cleaned (dishwasher & bleach rinse) but they generally hold up quite admirably.

I can't get the peanut butter off my knives, how will my dishwasher get the peanut butter out of a container?

[+Chokecherry]

We have a family here that uses a variety of food containers (parmesean, mayo, and PB are most of them). I don't know how they clean them but apparently it works extremely well. Their caches are in high bear density areas with LOTS of habituated bears and the containers last for years. The problems have been with muggles if anything.

 

So it is possible to clean those containers out but I'm going to guess it's not being done primarily with the dishwasher in their case. It's probably lots of hand washing/bleaching.

 

I've also seen food containers gone horribly wrong. It's really really important to get them really clean.

[imwithstupider]

I use peanut butter jars for storing nuts and bolts and other odds and ends. I spray the inside with hot water until most of the peanut butter is gone. Then I put about a cup of hot water in with a little dish detergent and put the lid on. Shake it around and then rinse. I guess you need to bleach it too if you are going to use it for a geocache. I'm not sure why. But once they dry they are great for storing all kinds of stuff.

[knowschad]

I use peanut butter jars for storing nuts and bolts and other odds and ends. I spray the inside with hot water until most of the peanut butter is gone. Then I put about a cup of hot water in with a little dish detergent and put the lid on. Shake it around and then rinse. I guess you need to bleach it too if you are going to use it for a geocache. I'm not sure why. But once they dry they are great for storing all kinds of stuff.

I suspect the bleach just oxidizes some of the oils. Truth be known, I did not bleach the couple of peanut butter jar caches that I have out, and they've been just fine. But that is the common wisdom here, and I can't see how it could hurt.

 

Coldgears... all I can say is that in six years and a bunch of caches, only one peanut butter jar cache comes to mind and having possibly been destroyed by an animal. And most were dry (best if hidden cap side up, though). I'm sure I have found far more of those than I have ammo boxes.

[+edscott]

I can think of all kinds of things that would make better caches around the house. Peanut butter jars have screw on lids. I'm pretty sure they would work for free and not tear. I've found several torn baggies in the handful of caches I've found and they were inside containers. I just don't see how that's gonna work bro.

The main problem with using food containers like the PB Jar is that critters will home in on the cache as you can never get the food smell out of them.

 

But yes, there are many containers (while not that great in their own right) that are better than a baggie.

My 6 years of experience has found quite the opposite, as far as peanut butter and mayo jars. They do need to be properly cleaned (dishwasher & bleach rinse) but they generally hold up quite admirably.

I can't get the peanut butter off my knives, how will my dishwasher get the peanut butter out of a container?

 

The dog will lick it clean for you..

[+Coldgears]

I use peanut butter jars for storing nuts and bolts and other odds and ends. I spray the inside with hot water until most of the peanut butter is gone. Then I put about a cup of hot water in with a little dish detergent and put the lid on. Shake it around and then rinse. I guess you need to bleach it too if you are going to use it for a geocache. I'm not sure why. But once they dry they are great for storing all kinds of stuff.

I suspect the bleach just oxidizes some of the oils. Truth be known, I did not bleach the couple of peanut butter jar caches that I have out, and they've been just fine. But that is the common wisdom here, and I can't see how it could hurt.

 

Coldgears... all I can say is that in six years and a bunch of caches, only one peanut butter jar cache comes to mind and having possibly been destroyed by an animal. And most were dry (best if hidden cap side up, though). I'm sure I have found far more of those than I have ammo boxes.

I guess I'll do that when I finish one of the two petter pan containers. If that goes well I'll do it for the other one. A free multi! Now all I need is a peanut butter pun for a peanut butter multi... Any ideas?

 

EDIT: Actually I'm going to just have one peanut butter can to save myself doing the inordinate amount of work of two. It'll be big enough for trade items as a final. The other stages will be two matchstick containers I'm going to pick up from wal-mart, or the dollar store (Most likely dollar store as I am going there tommorrow!)

Edited August 23, 2010 by Coldgears

[+power69]

We have a family here that uses a variety of food containers (parmesean, mayo, and PB are most of them). I don't know how they clean them but apparently it works extremely well. Their caches are in high bear density areas with LOTS of habituated bears and the containers last for years. The problems have been with muggles if anything.

 

So it is possible to clean those containers out but I'm going to guess it's not being done primarily with the dishwasher in their case. It's probably lots of hand washing/bleaching.

 

I've also seen food containers gone horribly wrong. It's really really important to get them really clean.

those white kool aid cannisters make good cheap containers. ive found if you boil them then spray the insides with krylons fusion paint for plastics theres no smell when the paint dries.

[+Chokecherry]

I use peanut butter jars for storing nuts and bolts and other odds and ends. I spray the inside with hot water until most of the peanut butter is gone. Then I put about a cup of hot water in with a little dish detergent and put the lid on. Shake it around and then rinse. I guess you need to bleach it too if you are going to use it for a geocache. I'm not sure why. But once they dry they are great for storing all kinds of stuff.

I suspect the bleach just oxidizes some of the oils. Truth be known, I did not bleach the couple of peanut butter jar caches that I have out, and they've been just fine. But that is the common wisdom here, and I can't see how it could hurt.

 

Coldgears... all I can say is that in six years and a bunch of caches, only one peanut butter jar cache comes to mind and having possibly been destroyed by an animal. And most were dry (best if hidden cap side up, though). I'm sure I have found far more of those than I have ammo boxes.

I guess I'll do that when I finish one of the two petter pan containers. If that goes well I'll do it for the other one. A free multi! Now all I need is a peanut butter pun for a peanut butter multi... Any ideas?

 

EDIT: Actually I'm going to just have one peanut butter can to save myself doing the inordinate amount of work of two. It'll be big enough for trade items as a final. The other stages will be two matchstick containers I'm going to pick up from wal-mart, or the dollar store (Most likely dollar store as I am going there tommorrow!)

 

Matchstick containers may actually be under $1 at walmart.

[Skippermark]

Now I feel stupid. I just really want to hide another multi, last time I used a playdough container and old pill bottle. I can afford an ammo box, a bison tube, and a stainless steel container, but I just can't afford multipule ones of them. My pill bottle is holding up fine with the plastic bag. I guess I'll just keep hiding single quality caches for now on!

Don't feel that way. My wife was unemployed for over a year, and we had to find affordable ways to hide caches. The method Keystone suggested was one of them.

 

I had a multi, but there was actually only one physical container. Finders walked through an old, historic town gathering info about the revolutionary war, George Washington and other things and then ended at a park to find the actual container. It only cost a few dollars for the container, but people loved the cache. Unfortunately, a tornado took the container and messed up the park, so I had to archive it. Seeing this post has made me want to hide another one, similar style.

 

Another way to save money is to use plastic containers instead of ammo cans. They're not as durable, but if you go with a name brand like Lock & Lock, they hold up pretty well in most situations. You can probably get 2 or 3 for the price of one ammo can, maybe more if they're not real big.

 

I'm not a big fan of film cans, but there are ways to make them work decently for multis. Most drug stores just throw them out and will give them to you if you ask. If you write the coordinates on a piece of paper, you can "laminate" them with standard packing tape.

 

Write or print the coordinates onto the paper and then cut out the coordinates into a 1x4 or similar size paper and then take some packing tape and apply it to each side of the paper. Use scissors to trim it (leaving some extra tape around the edges) and viola', you have a laminated set of coordinates that should hold up even if the container doesn't stay perfectly dry.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Skippermark

[+Jeepster++]

The dog will lick it clean for you..

[Skippermark]

I guess you need to bleach it too if you are going to use it for a geocache. I'm not sure why. But once they dry they are great for storing all kinds of stuff.

Whoever suggested bleach probably did so because they were thinking of getting rid of the smell. Animals are very creative at getting containers and can smell a lot better than humans. They'll often chew through them to get to what they think is food inside.

[+Team MacKenzie]

One of our new caches in a PB jar got muggled by a bear before it even got published.

 

CO put it out one week, mistakenly deleted the co-ordinates from the GPS, went back the next weekend to get them again only to find the cache well chewed by a bear.

 

Cache container had to be replaced before it was even published.

 

That episode convinced me NOT to use PB or other food containers up here!!

[+bflentje]

I would never make fun of the fact that times are tough but you can't possibly be poor enough to resort to ziplock baggies. There are so many other cheap options out there as already mentioned.

 

If you pay for postage, I'll send you peanut butter jars, all cleaned out and ready to be hidden.

[7rxc]

One of our new caches in a PB jar got muggled by a bear before it even got published.

 

CO put it out one week, mistakenly deleted the co-ordinates from the GPS, went back the next weekend to get them again only to find the cache well chewed by a bear.

 

Cache container had to be replaced before it was even published.

 

That episode convinced me NOT to use PB or other food containers up here!!

I don't know about your bears, but simply the act of putting a container in your pack with your lunch etc. would likely put more than enough human and food scent on it to more than attract our bears... on the other hand PB containers etc. seem to fare well in this area... which is full of both black and grizzly bears, and just about anything else that eats... Myself, I'd be more worried about exposing an allergic to traces of Peanut Butter... some react to what a bear would never scent... some of that reading material is scary. Glad I'm not allergic to PB it's a staple of my life. Lots of other similar containers... I think the idea of laminating a few layers of duct tape / camo tape will shield it from sun effects and add some strength and durability as well not to mention good camo for the hide... You can also add 'lumps' etc under the tape and outside to alter the shape... amazing how the eye will refuse to believe that what you are looking at is a jar.. with just a little help. The art of camoflage...

 

Doug 7rxc

[+roziecakes]

I have found many camo'd zip locks in PA. Gotta say not fond of them as they aren't the most water resistant. Don't feel silly, just chalk it up to more learning!!!

So people do actually do this huh? I still would rather use a good container even if it is a normal practice to use zip locks. I like keystones idea best. The real issue is finding a park that has the interesting markers within a certain distance from my house...

 

I like Keystone's idea best too. I love finding those kinds of multis they're some of my favorites, and people learn something too. I don't recommend the cammo'd ziplocks at ALL. I have found a lot of those too, but they never hold up.

 

99% of all the ones I've found have had broken seals and have been really wet and nasty inside. The other 1% of them were put out recently or were replacements for old ones that got wet. Don't do it!!

 

If you do want to put containers at each stage, use those diabetic test strip containers, or the white film containers with the 'innie' lids (you might be able to get them at a photo shop). You could also use small peanut butter jars.

[+briansnat]

I guess I'm really stupid! It's just that everytime I find a cache like a magnectic key holder with a plastic bag inside it's usually dry. I guess it's the double protection of both that keeps them dry. Now I feel stupid. I just really want to hide another multi, last time I used a playdough container and old pill bottle. I can afford an ammo box, a bison tube, and a stainless steel container, but I just can't afford multipule ones of them. My pill bottle is holding up fine with the plastic bag. I guess I'll just keep hiding single quality caches for now on!

 

Try these copper plant tags for the middle stages of multis. Waterproof and once they develop a weathered patina, failrly well camouflaged.

 

Also, waterproof match boxes are under a dollar each at WalMart and make outstanding containers.

 

I'm not ususally a fan of film canisters but since you are only protecting a set of coords, try laminating the coords with clear packing tape, put them in a small Ziploc and put that inside a film canister.

Edited August 23, 2010 by briansnat